At a time when more students than ever are attending higher education, its provision is becoming more fluid, global and competitive. For example, developments in new technologies mean that higher education institutions (HEIs) can make their courses available all over the world. These developments bring into question the traditional delivery model…

The development of accreditation agencies within the Higher Education sector in order to assess and guarantee the quality of services or product is still a growing phenomenon in Europe. Accreditations are conceived by institutional authors and by authors who directly deal with quality assurance processes as a means of legitimization or a means of…

This 2010 edition of the "Focus" report has been prepared for the European Ministerial Conference in Budapest/Vienna, 11-12 March 2010, that officially launches the European Higher Education Area. The report has been developed as a fully collaborative exercise between the Eurydice Network and the Bologna Follow-up Group (BFUG), with the…

The annual meeting of the ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) IQA (internal quality assurance) Group gathered some 60 participants in the premises of the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO) in The Hague in June 2009. This seminar was a successful follow-up to the first ENQA IQA…

The title of this document is a deliberate play on the title of the biennial reports on the progress of Bologna produced by the European Students' Union, "Bologna With Student Eyes." It is a way of paying tribute to student involvement in the Bologna reforms, and marking a parallel student working participation in the state system…

In both Britain and France, evaluation has been seen as one element of national strategies to internationalise higher education (HE), with the spread of evaluation indicating policy convergence. However, there are dangers in describing the cross-national adoption of evaluation as an instance of policy transfer in higher education. This article…

An approach to quality in college instruction at a French technical institute, based on the industrial model of quality assurance, is outlined, and four separate initiatives are described. They include a group organized to implement the approach in a civil engineering department, undergraduate curriculum reform, redefinition of objectives in…

A model of quality assessment for higher education that incorporates both accountability (representing extrinsic values) and peer-review/collegiality (reflecting intrinsic values) is outlined. It is presented in both a historical context and the context of experiences with quality assessment in North America and Western Europe. (Author/MSE)

This paper offers a broad look at accreditation and quality assurance in higher education and how these issues are addressed around the world. Section 1 is an overview of accreditation and addresses the aims and objectives of accreditation, standards, accreditation bodies, stages of the accreditation process, the quality of that process, the role…

The system of pharmaceutical education in France is explained including the structure of the doctoral curriculum, internships for specialization, the system of diplomas, classification and certification of a pharmacist, and locus of responsibility for program quality. (MSE)

These two papers look at international aspects of quality in higher education from contrasting perspectives. The first paper, "Higher Education Quality: A European Dimension" by John Brennan asks whether there is a distinctive European dimension to quality in higher education and, if so, what are its implications for British institutions…

Western Europe's demand for quality higher education at lower cost is discussed. It is argued that the criteria for quality are determined by external interests, including governments looking for economic development through an improved labor market. The situations in Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom are considered.…

The educational assessment quality assurance and control practices of Germany, Sweden, France, New Zealand, and Australia are compared to illustrate the considerable variety of approaches and some of the social factors that contribute to this variety. In Germany there is considerable variation from one province to another, and quality assurance…

This conference proceedings presents 17 papers which examine quality assurance and evaluation in higher education, including methodologies, procedures, and ideas from various nations. The papers include: (1) "Quality Assurance in Higher Education" (Malcolm Frazer); (2) "Academic Standards Panels in Australia" (Kwong Lee Dow);…

Three different approaches to the evaluation of higher education in European and Scandinavian countries are examined: evaluation of a single discipline across institutions (Finland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, northern Germany); evaluation of several disciplines within certain institutions (France, Germany); and internal evaluation of…